Star Trek simming. A game enviroment. A chance for fun. A chance to meet people.
A chance to live the adventure. This is what Star Trek simming is all about. Welcome
to the SLA OPC, Star Trek simming at it's best!

The OPC is a Star Trek sim that allows you to create a character living in
the Star Trek univers. You create their background, you develop their life,
and you enjoy the fun of role playing this new creations.

The OPC is a Star Trek sim allowing you to have a great time interacting with
a large and welcoming crew, each of which wants to make your experience better. The OPC
sim takes place on Wednesday night at 8:30pm EAST. The game occurs on AOL and AIM (if you do not
have AOL, you can download the AIM software for free). The envrioment is fun, warm, and rewarding.
We hope to see you join this wonderful game!

The OPC is a founding member of the Starfleet Legacy Alliance.
Originally launched in 1997, the OPC has a very long history and has housed some of the SLA's finest hosts, including
Dante Surak, one of the SLA's founders!

We welcome you to join one of the SLA's oldest and most unique sims.Be the dream! Play the adventure!

Perfection is the Dream, not the Law

While this may be the case, Outpost Cousteau is still an
organization, and like any gathering of people, it requires protocols to
operate as best as it could. Generally when the concept of rules come to
ahead, it conjures up thoughts of limitations. Outpost Cousteau attempts
to do the opposite, providing not a set a binding laws, but rather a
template or base from which one can create and use a character via this
medium. They are not there to limit artistic freedoms or expressions,
rather they are there to ensure the quality of the sim.

The primary focus of Outpost Cousteau is and always will be
exploration. Not merely exploration of the Planet on which the OPC
itself resides, but rather exploration of various issues that are present
in day-to-day life. . It stands to establish a place to allow
simmers to share their imagination and creativity, with a keen focus on
the avenues of character growth and drama even in the midst of his
action-packed live-storylines. Above I said the Planet OPC resides on.
Unlike Science Station Regula One from Star Trek Wrath of Kahn or Deep
Space Nine from the show of the same name Outpost Cousteau is built on the
surface of the planet ZIarka IV in the Beta Quadrant. A lot of out
Storylines deal with Survival. OPC has weathered it's shares of
attacks. Both from the primitive natives of the Planet the Outpost was
Based on but also from threats off planet. There is also the task of not
calling too much attention to ourselves from the Romulans. While Outpost
Cousteau is in Federation Space it;s close enough to the Neutral Zone to
be a Prime Target should the Romulans decide to invade.

The general starting point for any new simmer to Outpost
Cousteau,
regardless of talents presented in the creation of their bio will always
be that of Ensign, promotion from which is gained by
regular attendance at sims, interactions and other such acts that indicate
you've shown a prominent contribution during your beginning tenure as
Ensign. While some sims require logs as part of the promotion process
Outpost Cousteau simply suggests them. The more logs you write the more it
will help to develop your character when the sim gets together. Those seeking to enter the sim via the ranks of the 'Enlisted' are
also under these obligations in order to advance in rank.

Outpost Cousteau however, does place emphasis
on ranks,but it's not the only thing. l. The emphasis also rests on the ability to interact with the stories
that are devised for the amusement of the simmers of OPC and the ability
to expand your character via whatever logs you can create with people.
Amusement is the key here. Still it's nice to be able to move up in rank.
On OPC one needs only to be on hand for eight weeks and soon after that
you most likely will be made a Lieutenant j.g.Twelve more weeks later
and you can begin to look forward to a Promotion to Lieutenant. From here
on though a greater emphasis is placed on how much you participate while
in sim. IF you show up and maybe include a line of dialouge here and there
but otherwise remain quiet well you might find that 16 weeks after your
promotion to Lieutenant that neither the XO or CO are willing to recommend
you for promotion. But if you try and include yourself as much as possible
during that time period and you might just find yourself being Promoted to
1st Lieutenant. The same goes from there in regards to the Next 20 weeks
and your chances for Convincing both the XO and CO that you deserve the
Ultimate Promotion to Lieutenant COmmander.

What kind of Responsibilities can you expect at various ranks.
Well at Ensign you will probably carry the title of Medical, Operations,
Security, Tactical, Science, or Engineering Officer. It's unlikely you will
be an Assistant Chief for your department. Once you reach Lieutenant j.g.
then your chances of an Assistant Chief's slot are greater but not
necessarily a guarantee unless you are exceptional. Promotion to Lieutenant
and above means it likely you will become the Chief of your department and
Might even be chosen as the 2nd Officer.

That which makes Outpost Cousteau different from other sims of it's
type is that the story is built not a clean-cut and dry script thought up
solely by the XO. This is not a movie set situation merely because it is
based on something created via that medium. Every character and their
interactions form a part of the overall story arc, with each simmer being
able to push forward their own ideas in sub-plots and as required, to
create overlapping story-arcs that will fulfill the simmer's desire for
writing and at the same time provide something to entertain their fellow
simmers. If you have an idea, then don't hesitate to run with it if you
believe it is a sound and imaginative concept. (If you want feedback
on your idea, go and discuss it with the CO)

To the matter of
Leave of Absence (LOA). To request and be granted LOAs, simply inform the
CO or XO that you're going on LOA
which will be granted for a reasonable length of time. Indefinate Absences
do carry the price of a suspension of membership. Keep well in mind that
the Outpost Cousteau isn't a place for stragglers, we take pride in being a sim
that moves ahead, not linger.

As to the matter of age, a touchy subject regarding the
OPC's classification. In reality, the world is not a kind place, and while
Star Trek attempts to create a better world, it doesn't mean that
everything that happens there is not unlike what happens today. The
Outpost Cousteau's' minimum age requirement is 13,

An additional key aspect of OPC is the great freedom and
flexiblity that people are granted in the concept of their characters. The
imagination is truly the limit on OPC, but with freedom comes
responsibility. The prominent school of thought here is realism
and self-restraint. It's been shown that even aliens have
problems in Star Trek. Regardless of whatever character you create, be
they a standard human or your own creation, you must take your own
experiences of life and use them as a basis your character.

You
don't need to have seen a great deal of Star Trek to create a character,
even though Outpost Cousteau itself is strongly embedded within the canon lore of
Star Trek. Realism on the other hand is not a limit, the OPC caters to
some characters that from a modern day perspective are 'amazing' and 'too
powerful'. However, they are still people, because a good writers and a
good simmer can make even the most amazing character become something that
a person can relate to. Star Trek has often made extensive use of this,
and OPC is truly no different.

However, there are limits. Reality
is riddled with them and this ultimately comes into play when a person is
writing of simming. You would only be allowed a character that is powerful
if you have demonstrated that you possess the maturity to wield that
character. If you don't, your chances of joining OPC are extremely thin.
This is NOT to be a sim where ego dominates. The
elevation of a character at the expense of another is forbidden. A
particular theme of the OPC is drama, action and occassionally
suspense. There is a line that is not to be crossed. Opposing one another
is not the intention here, rather it is cooperation towards a storyline
that all are able to enjoy.

Keep this in mind when writing your
character, because a character is truly an extension of you. If your
character is too powerful, then you should take some time to contemplate
your own maturity and abilities as not only a simmer, but a writer.

To give you a little idea of what you can and cannot do, please
observe the following stipulations:

"Super" Characters: (being that possess abilities that make it
possible for them to solve virtually any problem) make the story
very dull, OPC allows the characters to have somewhat
'super-human' abilities but only if they are controlled
properly and their characters are in possession of self-control and
maturity.. The acceptance of such characters will be regulated by the CO
and XO.

"Perfect" characters: (Those who've graduated at the top of
their class, never met any resistance in their lives/careers, always get
their way, never get sick or injured, have been present at every major
event in Star Trek history, have medals for everything, etc.) are
exactly the kind of thing that are unwanted on OPC. A perfect and
utopian universe is a common misconception of the Star Trek universe, if
everything was perfect, then there would be a need for armed starships
in this universe. Use your common sense before creating a character like
this.

One question that will evident crop up in the minds of people when
they see the focus of OPC is "Why not have someone from Section 31
or Starfleet Intelligence as my character?" I admit we've had
characters like this before on OPC but well WE're trying to stay away
from this these kinds of characters in the future. IF found on an
application Acceptance of the character would probably depend on if
those aspects of the character can be removed.

"Realism" Characters should be people with realistic
problems and reactions, dealing with situations that are seen in the
modern world. Think of this way, are highly intelligent people or
extremely powerful entities merely made that way? Take it from the
viewpoint of yourself, how did you become the person you are? Surely you
must have had endured problems and events that have helped to shape the
person you are today. Wouldn't your character be no different? Our
characters aren't "perfect", so don't try to make your character
perfect. (Yet don't make them so wretched that nobody would accept
them, because generally we wouldn't either.)

What Kind of Character can I play though.

IF you want to play a helmsman Outpost Cousteau would not be the place
for you Though we do Provide places For Operations People. (After all a
big place like this has a lot to be coordinated. Engineering (We might not
have engines but we do have at least one Warp Core to provide power).
Medical Officers since an Outpost this size needs good qualified doctors
even for a frontier assignment. Science, well with a whole planet out
there to study and explore you better have a top notch Science Team.
Security Officers who while their main duty is to protect the Outpost
itself might get called upon to help stop threats outside the outpost.
Tactical Officers handle the Weapons the outpost is provided with to make
sure that someone trying to attack the Outpost ends up so embarrassed by
his losses that they think twice before messing with us again.